Photo by Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
The infamous Blue Jays beer tosser learned his fate in a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday, receiving a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to mischief in connection with the incident that occurred at Rogers Centre during last October's playoff game against the Orioles.Ken Pagan will perform 200 hours of community service (100 have already been served) and is banned from all major league ballparks for the duration of his 12-month probation, according to several outlets. He was handed an indefinite ban from the Rogers Centre days after he was outed as the beer-chucking bandit, and has been ordered to stay 500 metres away from the stadium.Pagan, who narrowly missed Hyun Soo Kim with the can during the seventh inning of last year's American League wild-card game, offered an apology in court to the Blue Jays and Orioles organizations, as well as the Baltimore outfielder. He admitted that he let his emotions get the best of him during an exciting moment, while expressing how fortunate it was that nobody was hurt."My reaction is a regrettable mistake, something I've been torn about since the moment it happened," Pagan stated in court."I have been a passionate baseball fan since getting hooked as an 8-year-old in the summer of 1983 and I am fully aware of the disgrace I brought to the game and the embarrassment this caused, particularly to the Toronto Blue Jays organization and the great baseball fans of Toronto," his statement read, in part.Defence lawyer Tyler Smith asked for his client to be given an absolute discharge, claiming that Pagan has suffered from intense media scrutiny since the can toss, while becoming the butt of jokes and being subjected to online harassment, according to the Globe and Mail.Justice Robert Bigelow, who delivered the sentencing from Old City Hall court on Wednesday, agreed with Smith, who noted that the former journalist had already lost his job at Postmedia in Hamilton, Ontario, where he worked as a sports copy editor, while suffering immense public humiliation since the incident.Pagan, who has delivered pizzas and worked as a janitor since he was let go from Postmedia, according to the Toronto Star, will be spared of a criminal record if all his conditions are met over the next 12 months.
Advertisement